In recent months, we’ve seen a crackdown on the surrogacy enterprise in Thailand, Cambodia, and India—all known as hotspots for those from the developed world relying on the developing world to bear their children. Now, Mexico is under scrutiny for its surrogacy practice and all of the many ways it harms everyone involved.

A new documentary for the British program Unreported World chronicles the numerous ways in which the practice is nothing short of criminal. One woman reports that she was unknowingly implanted with HIV infected sperm, many women admit to agreeing to serve as a surrogate only out of financial desperation, another woman complains that the surrogacy agency did not provide her with adequate healthcare or basic living supplies, such as food or water.

Despite these egregious happenings, Surrogacy Beyond Borders—a major Mexican surrogacy agency—says they’ve experienced a five-fold business increase over the past year. It’s a lucrative enterprise that many individuals and countries are eager to tap into.

Here at the Center for Bioethics and Culture Network, we often remark that we’re involved in a story war. For every happy family or “miracle child” that is created via surrogacy, there are stories like the ones told in this new documentary, as well as ones told through our own documentary on the practice here in the United States.

It’s the stories of the vulnerable women and the children conceived from this practice who feel as if they’ve been bought or sold that matter most. While we advocate and work for policy change, we’ll keep telling the real stories that matter and hope that those that have ears to hear both listen and act.

Image by iivangm via flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Author Profile

Christopher White, Ramsey Institute Project Director